The Citadel

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Betad by Priapus, Marethyu, Malcolm Tent, Mike God of Lore, Beans


The Guild of Gamers: The Operative
Chapter 05: The Citadel

– Jane Shepard –

Entering Max's ship, she briefly paused as she took in the lavish decor. The Normandy had been rebuilt with comfort in mind, but Max's ship looked like it was designed as a pleasure cruiser. Max himself relaxed in a lounge with a whiskey in hand as he read some documents, shooting her a smile as she entered, Miranda pausing as she looked around.

"Really, Max?" Miranda asked, making him smile innocently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Miri. Is there a problem with my ship?" Max asked, taking a sip with a grin.

"I know where you got the Phantom, and I'm pretty sure the STG didn't design it to look like a pleasure cruiser," Miranda said, making him chuckle.

"It has gone under heavy modification since changing owners, admittedly, but I prefer my baby as she is now," Max said with a smirk.

"... you stole this from the Salarians?" Jane asked, getting only an innocent smile in return.

"I'm quite sure I don't know what you mean. Suppose the Salarians misplaced their extremely expensive prototype ship, made to be their version of the Normandy, right before I acquired my baby through entirely legitimate means; that's just a wild coincidence," Max said smugly.

"Does Mordin know?" Jane asked, seeing an issue approaching, but to her surprise, Max just laughed.

"Of course, the STG knows that I have her. We came to an agreement about me keeping this baby, but I don't plan to tell you the details; Mordin might have to kill you if I did," Max explained; he certainly had an interesting life.

"If it's meant to be their version of the Normandy, why is it so much smaller?" Jane asked, making Max smile.

"Because your Normandy is meant to have an entire marine deployment and a large Alliance crew, while the Phantom is meant for the deployment of a small elite team. It's smaller, faster, and harder to detect than the Normandy, but it's less powerful in a straight-up fight. Plus, the onboard computer can handle basically all the piloting, so I don't need a full-sized crew," Max explained; a flash of light made her blink as a blue holographic woman appeared next to Max. "Shep, Miri, meet Cortana, my version of EDI."


"You have an AI?" Miranda asked, shock and judgement in her tone as Max's eyebrow rose.

"Pot, meet kettle," Max said simply, and she could tell Miranda wanted to claim that Cerberus was very careful, but the cheerleader kept her mouth shut and just sighed.

"Anyway, I was just heading over to check if you were ready to set off for the Citadel; we have some business to handle there before we temporarily go our separate ways," Jane explained, making Max nod easily.

"I am, honestly, given the war that's about to start on Omega; it's probably for the best that we skedaddle," Max said casually, making them blink.

"Oh, fine, you smug prick. I'll bite. What war?" Miranda asked, seeing that Max wasn't going to elaborate.

"Thanks for playing along. Aria just found out that the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse were teaming up to take her down and that her former lover is leading a minor rebellion against her. I know Aria; she's about to go scorched earth on the gangs here to reestablish her leadership," Max explained.

"...and how did she find this out?" Jane asked, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, I told her. I owed her a favour, and now she owes me one. She'll win; she's too smart to be taken down by the mercs, and Nyreen has always been soft, especially for an ex-military Turian. She won't be able to handle an enraged Aria, especially given how effectively you crippled the three merc groups by recruiting Archangel. Aria will probably absorb a lot of the mercs and come out of this even stronger," Max laughed, taking a sip.

"And you want that?" Miranda asked, making him grin.

"Of course, Aria has very few weaknesses. I know every one of them; even if she didn't owe me a favour, I could get her under my thumb easily enough. She's useful for keeping this little slice of heaven in check, better the devil you know and all that," Max explained. "A shake-up in control over Omega would be annoying, so it's better to let Aria keep running her little kingdom."

A part of her was angry that he'd essentially started a gang war and was just leaving Omega to burn, but the pragmatic part of her pointed out that it was going to burn either way. The gangs planned to take down Aria; Max just tipped her off and tipped the scales in her favour.

She seemed cruel but fair, which was probably better than whoever would take her place.

"Captain, you have received a new message from Aria T'Loak. It simply contains several dozen profanities," Cortana added helpfully as Max grinned.

"Ah, she confirmed what I told her about Nyreen. She's not thrilled that I've known where Nyreen has been all this time," Max laughed. "So yes, let's head to more lawful places before Aria forgets that she owes me and decides to come and repeat those profanities in person."

Was he just poking Aria for his own amusement?

Hadn't he ever broken the first rule of Omega? The image of Max and Aria entangled made her mind wander for a moment before she got it under control.

"Miranda, go and tell Joker to prepare for take-off; I have something I want to discuss with Max," Jane ordered, seeing Miranda pause as she went to argue before she gathered herself.

"Of course, Commander," Miranda forced out, turning and leaving as Jane took a seat.

"So, care to tell me why Liara seems worried about you?" Jane asked, making Max laugh. "She called me last night and seemed awfully concerned about me getting close to you."

"Ah, she tried to play the spy game against an actual spy. It was a nice attempt for an amateur, and I may have hinted at my desire to seduce you to her while she was trying to keep her identity hidden," Max admitted frankly, making her pause before she snorted.

"You told my girlfriend you were planning on talking me into bed?" Jane asked, amused despite herself.

"No, I told a mysterious information broker that definitely wasn't Liara that I was planning on seducing you. How was I supposed to know she was dating you? Besides, until death do us part, and you have already died, so…" Max trailed off, making her chuckle.

"Sorry, but death itself couldn't separate us, apparently. We're officially together again; maybe I should thank you. I get the feeling she wouldn't have rushed into reaffirming that if you didn't poke fun at her," Jane laughed, amused at Liara, of all people, being worried. Did she not know how beautiful she was?

"Ah, so that door is shut? Well, I've always been good at getting into places I'm not supposed to," Max said cockily, giving her a blatant once-over. "I do have some magic fingers.

"Tell you what, you talk Liara into trying them out, and we can both see what those magic fingers can do, but until then, I'm afraid you'll have to settle for Miranda and however many other girls you've talked your way into the pants of," Jane offered playfully, making him nod as if to say challenge accepted. "You know, I looked you up."

"Ah, was it some good reading, at least?" Max asked, making her scoff.

"The first sighting of 'Maxim Russ' was during the First Contact war, which was almost thirty years ago. Are you really in your fifties?" Jane asked, making him smile. Sure, genetic modification could make people age slower, but most of them were developed after the First Contact war, and Max barely looked like he was in his early twenties. The neatly trimmed beard added a few years onto him; without it, she'd have been hard-pressed to believe he was even twenty.

"You want the real answer, or would you rather keep some of the mystique?" Max asked, making her pause.


"Real answer," Jane answered challengingly, making him nod.

"I volunteered for a secret program during the FC War, very early gene-modding. It was state of the art, even by modern standards, but it had some serious risks. I was one of over five hundred soldiers who went through it and one of seven who survived," Max admitted, making her eyes widen. "It was a different time; the discovery of alien life (that immediately wanted us dead) sent humanity into a panic, a lot of restrictions were lifted in the name of our survival as a species, and gaining superiority on a galactic scale."

"Wait, seven? As in Section Seven?" Jane asked, making him nod with a mildly impressed look.

"Originally an elite squad of super-soldiers. It got expanded to a much larger espionage and black ops organisation; I was one of the first agents because I was already in Section Seven when it was forming, same as the other six," Max explained with surprising honesty.

"What happened to the others?" Jane asked, making Max pause as he traced his finger around the rim of his glass.

"Two died before Section Seven was disbanded, and once the Alliance shut us down? Well, despite what a lot of groups think, Section Seven truly was disbanded, and we were ordered to come in from the dark. Some people were pushing for us to be prosecuted for the… many war crimes we committed, and candidly, we didn't serve the Alliance for decades, only for them to toss us under the bus because they got caught. Everything we did, we did on Alliance orders," Max scoffed, frowning. "We went to ground, stole as much of the old Section Seven resources as we could, and eventually, we went our separate ways. The other four of the original seven are still out there; hell, one of them is currently in my way. You might have heard of him, Adam Smasher?"

She winced as images of a man that was 99.9% machine flashed through her mind. Stories of a man that was more machine than flesh tearing apart entire squads with laughable ease.

"Yeah, that's about right. He was a psychopath before he started chroming up so much, he was the one the top brass sent when subtlety didn't matter and you just wanted everyone dead. Now he's a merc and a fucking nightmarish one. Even I won't tangle with him," Max admitted. "The others? Well, I actually still like them, so I don't plan to expose them."

That was fair. A part of her wanted to add them to her team, she needed the best, but on the other hand, she didn't particularly want three more Maxes to deal with. She already felt unusually out of control while she was dealing with this one.

"Do you really think this Night City job will go well?" Jane asked, changing the subject as Max snorted.

"It's Night City; I expect things to go to shit almost immediately. That said, I expect me and Miri to be able to handle it, and I have a lot of contacts in the city; I've already put out feelers with Rogue; she's the fixer in NC, and we're on good terms. She owes me, and Rogue keeps her word. Plus, I have a couple of old flames in Night City," Max said with a grin, making her sigh.

"You're really not making me feel better about splitting the team, Max," Jane sighed.

"I won't say it'll be fine; we both know this life doesn't give certainties, but between me, Miri and this Kasumi? We're in a good position to make this a milk run, get in, grab the intel we need, and get out," Max said soothingly. "And if the espionage angle goes wrong, you should be done with your parts and ready to kick down the doors and try your own particular brand of diplomacy. Look, while you're picking up Subject Zero and this Warlord, we'll probably be chilling in my hot tub, toasting our success."

"...you do not have a hot tub on the ship," Jane scoffed, making him grin as he rose and walked away, leading her to a bathroom bigger than her bedroom on the Normandy, a very fancy Jacuzzi proudly in the corner. "Seriously?"

"Want to try it out?" Max offered, earning a considering pause before she finally answered.

"Are there cameras in this room?" Jane asked, making him grin.

"We both know the answer to that," Max replied simply as she sighed. She didn't have a bikini either.

"I should go," Jane said, making him laugh.

"Well, it's not going anywhere. Let me know if you change your mind," Max offered, watching her make her retreat.

– Maxim Russ – Later –

Being an independent agent is actually rather troublesome sometimes; you have to do a lot of the networking your agency would have done, so upon arriving in the Citadel, I found myself checking in with informants and various contacts, making sure they were still trustworthy.

It's busy work, but Shep had her own things to do, so I had plenty of time to do it while she met with Councilor Anderson. It's a shame Udina didn't become Councilor, I have some juicy blackmail on him, but alas, Anderson is a little too clean, and I don't think Jane would appreciate me trying to get leverage on her old captain.

Walking back to my ship, I pause midstep before I continue walking with a casual smile, checking my omni-tool as I go through the decontamination.

Stepping into the lounge area of my ship, I take a seat and address the air with a smile..

"So, I hope for your sake your name is Kasumi, otherwise I don't love your chances of living through the next five minutes," I say idly, the turrets coming to life as the air shimmers and a hooded figure decloaks in the entryway, laughing awkwardly.

"Heh, I wondered if you'd be able to detect me," Kasumi admits, raising her hands in surrender. "Max, right? Shep said I'd be working with you first, so I thought I'd come and… introduce myself. Kasumi Goto, your master thief for this Arasaka job."

"A pleasure, Miss Goto, but I suggest you call ahead next time. Cortana can be protective of my ship," I say as the turrets power down.

"I'll keep that in mind… but before I work with you, I want to ask you some things," Kasumi says, making me raise an eyebrow and gesture at the free seats. "I broke into Lawson's files on you, you used to be Section Seven, right?"


"Ah, Miri. You know, if their AI wasn't so laughably restricted, neither of us would have been able to get into her systems. How long did it take you?" I ask, making her shrug.

"Four minutes, kinda sloppy for me," Kasumi admits easily. "You? And don't dodge the question."

"Eighty-three seconds, but I'm intimately familiar with Cerberus protocols, and I wasn't dodging anything. You already know the answer. Yes, I used to be Section Seven, why?"

"Kenji Okuda, does the name mean anything to you?" Kasumi asks, making me raise an eyebrow.

"A hacker who got caught stealing Alliance secrets. He avoided a life sentence by agreeing to work for Section Seven, then tried to run," I say cooly, making her eyes narrow under her hood. "Why?"


"What happened to him?" Kasumi asks, tensing up. So, she knows Section Seven was involved in her lover's death? Not the hardest deduction; he tried to run then immediately ended up dead.

"Same thing that happens to everyone who joins up with a shadowy black ops group and then tries to bail; he was hunted down and eliminated," I admit easily. "He was a dead man the moment he tried to cross Section Seven."

"They'd kill their own agents so easily?" Kasumi asks, making me outright laugh.

"Yes, but Keiji was never an agent. I didn't work with him, but I know how Section Seven worked. He was a disposable asset, not a member. We used criminals as expendable manpower for jobs quite often," I explain, watching her shake slightly.

"Who killed him?" Kasumi asks, making me shrug.

"Have you heard the term 'operational security?'" I ask. "Agents don't know what other agents were doing, and Section Seven had almost fifty active agents before we were disbanded. Any one of them could have done it; killing some hacker isn't exactly a difficult job. Honestly, the real person who killed him would be his lover, who convinced him that they could escape from Section Seven; arrogance is a fatal flaw. I looked you up as well, Miss Goto."

Kasumi glares from under her hood as I meet her glare with utter calmness.

"You don't know who did the job? I have the alias they used, but it didn't lead anywhere," Kasumi admits, making me shrug.

"Section Seven agents, especially top tier ones like me, mostly acted with independence. I don't even know the aliases my old brothers and sisters-in-arms used, hell I wouldn't recognise most agents by name or face," I say, showing nothing as Kasumi stares at me.

Of course, I know them, it's me. But that entire alias is one I retired a long time ago, and I did most of the jobs through the same fixer, which is an alias Cortana uses. Kasumi has nothing.

"And you don't have access to the files on the job?" Kasumi asks, making me snort.

"The files that were purged when the entire department was liquidated? I think one of my coworkers managed to copy them, but I haven't seen her in years. Any files would have been destroyed years ago; maybe the Shadow Broker has access to a copy, hell we might be able to get you access to them if our job goes well, but I haven't had access to the Section Seven database in a long time," I lie again, someone did manage to save a copy of the entire database.

I helped her out with some trouble and got my own copy as a sign of her gratitude, along with some more personal rewards.

"Is this going to be a problem? I can tell Shep to take you with her if you don't want to work with a former member of the group that killed your lover," I offer, making her sigh.

"No, I'm better suited for this job than I am tagging along to recruit some mad Krogan and a crazy biotic," Kasumi says, giving me a searching look. "If you get access to the Broker's files, I want to know who killed Keiji. I've hit a dead-end in every other avenue I've checked," Kasumi admits.

"You realise you're hunting for a deadly assassin? The most realistic outcome of this is that you meet the same end," I point out, making her frown. "You're a good thief, a very good thief, but you might be a little out of your depth here."

"We'll see, so am I staying on your ship?" Kasumi simply replies. She is 100% going to try and hack my files, but Cortana can fake them and make sure she finds nothing incriminating.

"Well, that's not going to be my problem. Just don't say I didn't warn you," I say with a shrug. "Welcome to the Phantom, Miss Goto. I hope you enjoy your stay," I say, giving her a smile.

"I'm sure I will," Kasumi says, standing. "Mind if I take a look around?"

"Be my guest; I'll be in my workshop. That's the only room that's off-limits; there's some dangerous equipment and materials in there, and I'd rather not find out you've accidentally spilled an undetectable nerve agent or blown yourself up by picking up the anti-heavy vehicle bomb shaped like a pen," I warn, making her blink.

"I can't tell if you're joking," Kasumi admits, making me grin.

"All the more reason to stay out of my workshop," I say with a shrug, taking a sip of my drink before I put the glass down and rise myself.

If I'm going to Night City, I have work to do. My new memories of that place make it clear just how dangerous that place can be, even for experienced Agents.

Kasumi wanders off to 'explore', snooping for information, and I make my way to my lab. Time to put my poison tinker skill to use.

– Later –

'Tinker' powers are extremely useful. Honestly, I wish I'd had them in my old life; I would have been so much more effective and also probably not died.

But oh well, that's life.

Poison is a vague subject, and I've quickly found I can push the limits as I experimented with the ingredients I got from the Greenhouse in my safehouse, coming up with something very special.

As I look at the phial of white powder, I smile to myself. My old world had an urban legend about 'the Devil's Breath'. A white powder that would put you in a zombie-like state when it was blown in your face, making you extremely susceptible to orders. Someone would breathe it in your face, and you'd wake up the next day with your bank account drained and your belongings gone, with no memory of what happened, if you were lucky.

The real drug was far less effective, though it did cause hallucinations and make people more susceptible while messing with their memories; I remember joking with a fellow spy about how useful it would be if it was as bad as the urban legends said.

And now it is, as I shake the phial of my own Angel's Breath.

If I understand what I've made right, it should put people in a state of extreme euphoria where they will be extremely open to suggestions, blurring their memories heavily so they barely remember what they did, let alone who told them to do it.

This should be useful in Night City, which brings me to the next step of my plan.

I need cyberware, but I need very good and very secure cyberware, not some back-alley Ripperdoc's leftovers that can be hacked by anyone with an omnitool. The drugs I can make are way beyond what is available on the streets; trust me, I'm an expert on that, so following that particular line of thought… I need to get the skill to make my own gear.

Which means I need to complete more contracts, so it's time to see what bounties are available on the Citadel, because papa needs that new Cyberware.

— Bonus Scene — David Anderson

"You know him then?" Jane asked, making David sigh.

"I know him; Max is infamous, and for good reason. I can't deny Cerberus is right about his skills but-" David paused, making Shepard raise an eyebrow.

"But?"


"He's effective, very effective, but the man is a sociopath. Hell, it's why he's so good at his job. Make no mistake, Maxim Russ is dangerous. When Section Seven was decommissioned, they sent a squad of N7 marines to bring him in since he was deemed a flight risk. They didn't stand a chance; some of our best men killed like boot camp drop-outs," David said seriously, Shepard's eyes widening. "When they were considering me for the Spectre program, Maxim was another of the candidates, but he was deemed too unstable and unpredictable to put forward. He always gets the job done, but he's like Saren. He doesn't care about the cost as long as he finishes the mission. I'll forward you some files on his known operations, both under Section Seven and what he's been up to since."

"Do you think I can trust him?" Jane asked, making David sigh.

"I don't know, hell, I doubt anyone does," David admitted. "Can he help you take down the Collectors? Absolutely, he was one of our best, but he's been out in the cold a long time, and nobody knows where his loyalties lie anymore."


"Then maybe it's time for him to come in from the cold," Jane said, making David pause.

"Maybe, but I think he likes it out there," David pointed out, knowing that Jane wouldn't be deterred.